I first heard about Greater Boston Evaluation Network through my involvement in non-profits

I caught wind of GBEN through my attendance at EMPath quarterly Outcomes Workgroups and Tech Networks of Boston Round Table events. I joined GBEN and their membership committee soon after. As a part of the Membership Committee, we engage with, and provide outreach to current and potential members. When GBEN was granted official 501(c)3 nonprofit status in late 2017, it became essential that we concentrate additional energy on bolstering our membership. At this point, the previous Membership Chair was stepping down and recommended me to fill the role.

GBEN is a supportive community of professional Evaluators working in the non-profit and consulting worlds

The Learning and Evaluation Department at St. Francis House never has to face a tricky data collection question, reporting/analysis dilemma, or data visualization quandary alone. GBEN has created a space for Evaluators to work and share collaboratively around the complexities of program evaluation, because there are a lot of complexities!

Data and Evaluation at St. Francis House

As St. Francis House continues to work towards becoming a more data-informed, learning-oriented organization, working with GBEN has given me the tools to build an enhanced framework and approach for creating buy-in and excitement from our staff around data collection and evaluation. Staff buy-in and excitement creates better data quality and ultimately a better understanding of our guests we serve and our programs that we run.